Teaching a bilingual child to read

[TwoDogs9]

DS who will be three in January is being raised bilingually (English/Welsh). I am first language English but can speak Welsh. DH is first language Welsh. English is the predominant language at home but DH speaks Welsh to DS and I read both Welsh and English books to him. He will be going to a Welsh school where he will learn Welsh alphabet and learn to read in Welsh. I’d like to teach him to read in English but will this confuse him when he goes to school?

Yes it will confuse him to begin with, he might not meet his targets in the first couple of years But teaching him now when he is little will make the world of difference when results start to matter.

Isn't it recommend that it's one parent/ one language?

Depends on the child.

Ours has never been confused. We're in Spain, everything DS can do in Spanish, he can do in English. He's 8 and completely bilingual.

Just keep at it, in a fun way!

My dd goes to an Irish school. For the first year, reading was all through Irish. English is being taught now though.

I never really spoke Irish to her at home before she went, as she refused to speak it back to me. Now we can converse fluently through both and she's starting to read both. I think it's best to stick to what his primary language will be in school so as to not confuse things.

My dd now prefers all her homework in Irish. She hasn't received any English work yet, but they do it in school. We read English stories at night now as she wants to leave the Irish stories to school.

Don't rush it.

My sons both attend Welsh school and have never been taught to read in English. They just can! Extremely well. I guess its like you or I reading in French or Spanish you might not be able to pronounce it properly or understand but you can still read it. .In English they will understand immediately

We live in Spain, I do English with the kids & OH Spanish.
Our DD is almost 7 & she can read really well in Spanish & were just getting her started on English now as she's in a Spanish school. I would hold off a little until your child is older as it can be confusing for them